We still don’t have a media poll of the GOP primary for governor, but KCCI this evening released polling on general election match-ups against Democrat Chet Culver, the first-term governor who is seeking reelection in the fall. Former Governor Terry Branstad, a Republican who has returned to seek a fifth term, was the choice of 48 percent of the 600 people who were surveyed this week while Culver was the choice of 41 percent. That’s significantly different from a KCCI poll conducted in February which found Culver 16 points behind if the election had been held eight months early. The poll had a four percent margin of error.
There’s a nice graph at the bottom of the KCCI story which shows party loyalty splits. It shows Democrats may be “going home” to Culver (he gained 6 percent among Democrats comparing February & May poll results), and Branstad’s support among Independents has slipped to 51 percent from 60 percent in the February poll.
KCCI also polled a potential Grassley/Conlin general election match-up. Grassley was just below 50 percent, with Conlin only nine points behind. (Margin of error four percent.)
About O.Kay Henderson
Kay is a founding member of the Radio Iowa network newsroom. In 1994, she became the network’s news director. She’s a featured reporter and commentator on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press,” and the 2002 recipient of the Shelley Award.
[…] Either way, while Terry Branstad just might win on June 8, the concept that it is pre-ordained is not reporting or punditry. It is just lazy. But some are starting to get it: O. Kay Henderson mentions the oversight in a post yesterday. […]